Rural Healthcare
As a native East Tennessean and career community pharmacist, I know first-hand the healthcare challenges that face rural America. More than 46 million Americans, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, live in rural areas. Compared with their urban counterparts, rural Americans experience lower life expectancy and poorer health status. In general, residents in rural areas face barriers to accessing health care due to the limited number of providers, especially those providing specialized care, and inadequate health insurance. Rural residents may also lack access to reliable transportation and deal with exposure to environmental and occupational hazards. These disparities underscore the need for greater attention and resources aimed at improving health care and outcomes in rural areas.
This is why I am proud to serve as Co-Chair of the Congressional Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus.In this role I will continue to be a strong advocate for legislation and policies that give rural hospitals and clinics the support they need and increase access to the care they provide. Ensuring access to providers including doctors, nurses, PAs, rural labs, home health agencies, ambulances, rural outpatient hospitals and other rural providers is vital to the long-term sustainability of rural communities. We also need to continue to strengthen public-private partnerships and programs that incentivize doctors and other medical professionals to live and work in their local community and underserved areas.
In my legislative work, in February 2023 I introduced the bipartisan Rural Physician Workforce Production Act (H.R. 834), bipartisan legislation that improves Medicare reimbursements and enhances the current structure of the Medicare-funded graduate medical education (GME) program to bring more medical residents and doctors to rural areas.
I also teamed with Tennessee Congressional colleagues Senator Marsha Blackburn and Rep. David Kustoff (TN-08) to introduce the Rural America Health Corps Act (H.R. 1711). This important legislation would incentivize more health professionals to work in rural health facilities in exchange for forgiving medical school loans.
I’m also a proud cosponsor of the Save Rural Hospitals Act (H.R. 3635), bipartisan legislation that will help curb hospital closures in rural communities by ensuring fairness in Medicare hospital payments.
A related issue for rural communities and healthcare access is the availability of telehealth or telemedicine, built on strong investments in broadband. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown more and more folks don’t need to travel to a doctor’s office for each medical concern — it can be much more convenient to use your phone or computer and check in with your care team through a virtual visit or secure message. Expanding the availability of telehealth services is critical to help ensure folks in rural areas have greater access to medical care without having to travel across the county or state to get it. We need to ensure that more people have access to telehealth technologies and broadband internet to make sure folks are not left behind.